Bangladesh –Australia ROCKET Test Series

Second Test at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong

Score Card after Day One:

Bangladesh :253 for 6 (Shabbir Rahman 66, Mushfiqur Rahim 62*, Nasir 19*, Soumya 33, Mominul 31, Shakib 24, Nathan Lyon 5-77)

Again rain threatened, again rain stayed away, again Bangladesh electing to bat after winning the toss ran into initial collapse, again they recovered and at the end of the day ended the day at 253/6 after leading off spinner Nathan Lyon producing a world record feat. Lyon became the first bowler to dismiss each of the first four batsmen lbw in a Test innings. There have been 17 instances previously in which bowlers have dismissed the first three batsmen LBW. The last bowler to do this was Harbhajan Singh against South Africa in Cape Town.

Australia is in desperate frame of mind to win the test to square the series and save the grace of series white wash. Australia must avoid defeat in order to avoid dropping to sixth on the ICC Test rankings, their lowest spot since the system was introduced in 2003For the first time since 1938 They appeared with a single pacer and opened the test bowling with a spinner at one end. O’keefee replaced injured pacer Hazelwood and medium pacer all-rounder Hilton Cartwright came in place of struggling Usman Khawaja . The only inevitable change Bangladesh made was bringing in in redoubtable Mammal coming in place of Shaiful.

Wicket looked like far better for batting –no disconcerting bounce or turn. Not a single ball jumped off length or died down. Yet off all person terrific Tamim was made to struggle by Cummins bowling very first and accurate. Maxwell dropped him in the slips. Meantime Llyon was bowling on a very tight off stump corridor. He had Tamim and Kayes trapped in front pitching just short of good length and straightening. Two early blows pegged the home team on the backfoot. Two highly talented youngsters Mominul and Soumya were expertly repairing the innings till the last over before lunch when Lloyn struck again and again trapped Soumya in front. After lunch when Lyon had Mominul LBW he entered cricket history being the first ever bowler taking four top order batsman all LBW. When Shakib also got out Bangladesh was in serious trouble. At 5/117 Bangladesh had its back to the wall. Fortunately, cool like cucumber Mushfique and Shabbir Rahman were still there. The inclusion of an additional batsman paid back. Shabbir produced some top quality aggressive strokes and Mushfique provided the spine to the innings. The 105 runs quality 6th wicket partnership came to an end in a bizzare fashion. Lloyn bowled a wide delivery down the leg which Shabbir over balanced while defending. Wade made a lightening quick stumping with Shabbir feet marginally outside the crease. Wade almost lost his place in the side after first test. There were talks of replacing him with part timer  Peter Handscomb. Bangladesh could have been in far better control had not Shabbir left in such a manner. He really batted well for his well-made 66. Another talented all-rounder Nasir Hossain joined his captain and remained together till stumps.

Mushfique was a picture of grit, determination, confidence. He batted for nearly four hours for his unbeaten 62. With him there Bangladesh can still hope for a 300 plus first innings. This wicket will definitely start crumbling at some stage. Australia will have its works cut out. Shabbir’s aggressive batting and Lyon’s world record setting were the outstanding features of day one. Mominul on his return showed evidence why ignoring him to start with was a mistake .Nasir is also responding his critics in team management with his bat.

BDST: 1110 HRS, SEP 5, 2017
AP